Business Aviation

Researchers at NASA are “investigating promising advances” in high-temperature materials that can be used to make turbine engines run more efficiently, the agency said last week. The materials, called ceramic-matrix composites, or CMCs, are lighter and stronger than the metal alloys used today, and can withstand the extremely high temperatures of 2700 degrees Fahrenheit and […]

As an aviation journalist, my job description isn’t exactly to cheer when a flying machine craters, runs amok, blows up or otherwise goes awry. Hey, two wings, one love, right? So it was with a little guilt when, like a beer burp you can’t quite keep down, I had this moment of so there, when […]

Daher surprised us all with a clever, self-deploying lav for the back of the TBM 950. At the touch of a button, it springs into action. AVweb shot this demo video recently. view on YouTube

When JetBlue’s Flight 387 took off this morning from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, headed for Cuba, it was the first commercial airline to fly that route since 1961. For First Officer Frank Barreras, the trip held an extra level of poignancy — his father, Frank Sr., fled Cuba 55 years ago, aboard one of the last […]

The private-jet market overall has been slumping so far this year, as reported in the latest GAMA tally, but a closer look at the data shows that small private jets are in growth mode, according to a recent analysis by the Wichita Eagle. The Eagle found that shipments of small and midsize jets grew by […]

With new FAA rules now in place, as of Monday, for operators to secure a commercial drone certificate, it’s been projected that their numbers will quickly outnumber manned-aircraft pilots. The FAA has estimated the number of certified commercial drone operators could exceed 600,000 within a year, equal to the total number of pilots from student […]

Police said a first officer’s blood alcohol content was 0.3, or seven times the legal limit, when he was tested at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan, last Thursday and removed from the cockpit of a Talon Air Challenger 604 charter flight. The captain of the flight, Manny Ramirez, reportedly noticed that the first […]

Authorities in Scotland removed two United Airlines pilots from a Newark-bound flight Saturday and charged them with being intoxicated.According to news reports, police charged Carlos Licona, 45, and Paul Grebnc, 35, with violation of the U.K.’s transport safety laws. The pilots were about to depart Glasgow en route to Newark’s Liberty International Airport. There were […]

Textron Aviation is moving production of the Cessna Caravan from Wichita to Independence, Kansas, to make room for new products, including its new flagship jet and high-performance turboprop. The company announced the move on Friday. “This move will utilize capacity at our Independence, Kansas, facility, while making our Wichita work force available for new products […]

NASA has chosen five new aviation-related technologies that it intends to study intently over the next two years as part of its ongoing Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project, the agency said recently. The researchers will focus on fuel cells, the use of 3D printing to improve electric-motor performance, energy storage in lithium-air batteries, ways to change […]